Offseason rumors
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Breslow has already penciled himself into the LHRP job.
But more seriously, he probably thinks it's an easy role to buy low on later if you know what you're looking for. & there's always the PENROD buzz.
Murphy had a 5.38 xFIP against lefties (3.28 against righties) so he doesn't currently sound like an answer to lefty specialist.
But more seriously, he probably thinks it's an easy role to buy low on later if you know what you're looking for. & there's always the PENROD buzz.
Murphy had a 5.38 xFIP against lefties (3.28 against righties) so he doesn't currently sound like an answer to lefty specialist.
The Astros haven't had any lefty relievers during most of their run, it matters less these days when guys have to face three batters (unless the inning ends). They're still nice to have, all else being equal, but plenty of righty relievers are very good at consistently getting out lefties also.
While I tend to get your overall point, I will say we seem to have gotten steady streams of "we believe in this team" and "our additions are the guys coming back from injury" and "we're not that far away" type comments. On the one hand you can say "well what else were they going to say" but on the other, those certainly weren't what people wanted to hear, nor were they particularly popular.
To me those always seemed to at best seem hollow and at worst marked a massive misunderstanding of where the team was in relation to their peers in the AL East and those teams - ostensibly at least - contending for a pennant.
Now if they come out and do nothing, I'll certainly cede to your point. But again, I'd rather someone recognize the massive holes that exist rather than thinking what is already in the organization is sufficient, when clearly it isn't.
But again - it's all just talk until moves are made (or not made) which we can then revisit.
OK, fair point. The deadline stuff, both years, was in hindsight an epic internal mess.
This is where I think Bloom was an epic fail. He couldn't pull the trigger. He got to the edge and couldn't get rid of prospects for deadline help. That's my read of why he was fired.
And Breslow just said this: “It is a risk,” he said of the trade market. “They don’t all work out. If you wait for the perfect trade you will likely never transact. I think these jobs require decisiveness and boldness and conviction, and also the humility that you’re not going to win every one.”
I don't think Bloom would have ever been able to utter those words.
There's some buzz about a trade with the Yankees built around Gleyber & Verdugo.
View: https://twitter.com/bradfo/status/1722611926952481251
View: https://twitter.com/ChrisHenrique/status/1722440079237329063
View: https://twitter.com/bradfo/status/1722611926952481251
View: https://twitter.com/Sean_McAdam/status/1722358075259314647
View: https://twitter.com/ChrisHenrique/status/1722440079237329063
I’ll believe it when I see it but that might not be a bad fit. Torres has some right handed power and has been a fairly consistent 3ish war guy over his career. And the MFY seem to need some lefty balance of their own. Might make sense to swap their last years of team control especially if you don’t think too highly of Verdugo’s future.
Gleyber Torres is a better hitter than Verdugo and is an above average fielder at 2B. Yet BTV has them rated similarly (6.9 for Gleyber to 5 for Verdugo). A guy live David Hamilton bridges that gap. Am I missing something about Torres?
I watch a lot of NYY games b/c my husband is a fan. Or was a fan, as he's not crazy about them lately. One of the reasons he tunes out is Torres, who makes inexcusable mistakes, bad Knoblauchian throws. You thought Hernandez was frustrating at SS? Just wait. Now, I know you have the "above average" rating, but the eye test says NO on this guy.
Probably the fact that he is not an above average fielder at 2B. Fangraphs has all of his defensive ratings as negative.
Got it on Torres' D. I lazily looked quickly as his last two years of dWAR, which were 1.4 and 0. But it looks like there's plenty of evidence that goes the other way, including his statcast page. Dude can sure rake though, especially for a 2B.
Always hard to picture the Sox-Yanks making a deal, though obviously, it's happened before and probably will again.
It would be a really good trade for both teams, to be honest. Torres may not be a great fielder (he's a PERFECT fit on the Sox!!!), but he's a very, very good hitter, and a nice power RH bat that the Sox would desperately need. Verdugo would be perfect in Yankee stadium - I'd expect 20+ homers out of him playing for the MFY.
The Sox could then fill RF with a combination of Rafaela and Abreu.
Starters:
C - Wong
1b - Casas
2b - Torres
3b - Devers
SS - Story
LF - Yoshida
CF - Duran
RF - Rafaela/Abreu
DH - rotate
Good balance of LH-RH power
LH - Casas, Devers, Yoshida, Duran, Abreu
RH - Torres, Story, Rafaela
Obviously I'd like to add another RH bat but that's a pretty good lineup.
It would be a really good trade for both teams, to be honest. Torres may not be a great fielder (he's a PERFECT fit on the Sox!!!), but he's a very, very good hitter, and a nice power RH bat that the Sox would desperately need. Verdugo would be perfect in Yankee stadium - I'd expect 20+ homers out of him playing for the MFY.
The Sox could then fill RF with a combination of Rafaela and Abreu.
Starters:
C - Wong
1b - Casas
2b - Torres
3b - Devers
SS - Story
LF - Yoshida
CF - Duran
RF - Rafaela/Abreu
DH - rotate
Good balance of LH-RH power
LH - Casas, Devers, Yoshida, Duran, Abreu
RH - Torres, Story, Rafaela
Obviously I'd like to add another RH bat but that's a pretty good lineup.
I've been pushing for a trade with Milwaukee for over a year now... might it finally happen?
According to Rosenthal: "Those sources, briefed on the Brewers’ discussions but not authorized to discuss them publicly, say the team is open to moving virtually any player on its roster."
According to Rosenthal: "Those sources, briefed on the Brewers’ discussions but not authorized to discuss them publicly, say the team is open to moving virtually any player on its roster."
Not sure how much is actually being reported or just hints being dropped here and there, but yeah, the part where the deadline deals don't get done is bad, if you believe what people are saying. Like GMs complaining they had a fair deal lined up only for Bloom to come back and ask for another asset. That's where he seems to have shown himself out. If other GMs have had it with you, that's a problem.
Corbin Burnes, Freddy Peralta, and Willy Adames are all fits. Anyways it makes a lot of sense for the Brewers to reset. Burnes, Woodruff, and Adames are all free agents next year. Woodruff is likely out for most if not all of next season and has talked about wanting to stay in Milwaukee, so maybe they work out an extension with him, trade Burnes/Adames, and reset for ‘25.
The Red Sox/Yankees don't trade significant players with each other except for Danny Cater for Sparky Lyle. They owe us one!
That really makes sense. They'd probably be able to get a good deal with Woodruff right now considering that if he didn't sign a contract he'd be a sort of lame duck FA and would likely only get Make Good deals. It'd be risky for Milwaukee but that's where their budget is at.
Prying both or either Burnes and/or Adames would cost an ass-ton despite only both being on a one year remaining portion. Obviously someone like Verdugo wouldn't make sense unless a third team needing one more good corner OF wants to be part of the deal. So clearly at least a guy like Winkleman and Yorke would be part of that deal, along with possibly Romero. I'd still do it although I think Gonzalez is one turn away from being a dominant starter.
If you took half of Yelich’s contract it would really mitigate the prospect cost. Still had a 3.6 WAR season.
If that trade happened, my wife would be sick of me singing "Girl! I wanna take you to the Gley Bar!" by about the 6th inning of Opening Day.
His defense is pretty bad, but he'd be a great offensive fit on a team desperate for right handed power. I don't know about Verdugo on the Yankees, though. He does not fit their boring, big business style at all.
Does anyone know if extension windows are still allowed in MLB during trade negotiations? I did a Google search, but couldn't find a reliable answer.
Understanding that he'd have to still be paid a massive amount of money, I'd feel a heck of a lot better dealing them for Burnes if we could extend him (Milwaukee almost certainly won't be paying him, so I could see them granting a window to up their prospect haul).
Understanding that he'd have to still be paid a massive amount of money, I'd feel a heck of a lot better dealing them for Burnes if we could extend him (Milwaukee almost certainly won't be paying him, so I could see them granting a window to up their prospect haul).
I like this lineup a lot, except I'd probably have Yoshida is my (mostly) full-time DH, slide Duran to left and move Rafaela to center and have Abreau man right (or either sign or trade for a bopper--like a Soto).
I always thought that was up the discretion of the team trading the guy who would be extended? Does MLB get involved in that?
Counterpoint is both are on their last arb year, if both teams want to move on the blowback doesn't seem like a long term thing to me.
The odds of Verdugo blowing up are extremely low, Torres very low. If that makes sense.
I also like this. Takes the pressure off Urias to step in as starting 2B, he can rotate between 3B and 2B (and play mostly against LHP, who he hits to the tune of an .800 OPS), allowing us to get Devers some time at DH. Agree that Duran would be better suited for LF, and they can always put Yoshida in left against LHP, Devers at DH, and Urias at 3B.
NY does need to add a LHH outfielder or two (Cashman said two), and they do ideally need to deal Gleyber. Neither of these guys are superstars, but still I feel like these deals generally end up sending guys to the NL where they are less likely to haunt you.
That would make sense as to why I can't find a good answer on my own about if it's allowed in the new CBA or not. Until someone says otherwise, I'm going to go with this. Thanks.
But as such, that would - at least in my opinion - widely open the door in terms of prospects I'd feel confident dealing for Burnes. Without an extension, the quality of prospect would be far less, at least in my opinion.
Burnes is a Boras client, highly unlikely he signs an extension at this point with anyone unless a team wildly, wildly overpays. Especially given the craziness we're about to see in the FA SP market, it doesn't make any sense.
Not a rumor, but Bleacher Report proposed trading Nick Yorke (#6) and Shane Drohan (#18) for Juan Soto. Even though Soto will have minimal control before becoming a free agent, this still doesn't seem like a lot. Its a deal I would make yesterday, especially given that the team appears to be open to trading Verdugo. Any thoughts?
I would think SD could do better, but yes I'd roll the dice on extending Soto if we could get him at this price.
Doesn't seem like a lot? That'd be highway robbery. But I'm way more bearish on Nick Yorke's future fit with the team and skill set in general than most.
Same.
Though truth be told, I don't get why the writer proposed Yorke.
San Diego has Machado, Bogaerts and Cronenworth all under contract, along with Kim whom I'd have to assume they're looking to extend. Their system isn't great, but their top prospect is a middle infielder (Jackson Merrill, a SS) that is rated similarly to Mayer, is also in AA, is (fwiw) about 3 months younger and just had a far better showing at AA than Mayer did (Merrill had a 104 wRC+ in AA).
Even without having Soto extended, that is absolutely a deal I'd make from Boston's perspective. I really don't get why the writer thinks San Diego would go for it.
They stapled Yu Darvish to Soto, they could do their very own version of the Mookie trade.
Amazingly, Darvish (as of now, no idea how much money SD would take) is a worse contract than what the Dodgers took on for Price. With Boston paying $16m of Price's salary each year, he was 3 years / $48m / $16m AAV, through his age 36 season. Darvish is at 5 years / $90m / $18m AAV, which I believe would go through his age 41 season. He was - at least according to Fangraphs, worth almost exactly as much as Price was his last year in Boston ($18.8m for Price, $19.2m for Darvish). I really don't understand why SD inked that deal with Darvish last off-season. Truly baffling.
Agree that Yorke isn't a good fit for the Padres & it's super unlikely they do a deal with that.
But I think the rankings that have Mayer & Merrill as comparable are pretty silly. Mayer suffered a shoulder injury in Greenville suppressing his Portland stats, but prior to that was a significantly better hitter than Merrill at each level.
'21 FCL - Mayer 120 wRC+, Merrill 92 wRC+
'22 A - Mayer 149, Merrill 125
'23 A+ - Mayer 139, Merrill 111
As well as having better hands & generally being a more fluid defender.
Initial thought is that isn’t giving up much for Soto, but it works in BTV. One year of Soto at a huge arb amount isn’t really all that valuable, esp. if the team isn’t a true contender. That being said, I’d make the deal.
Jen McCaffrey in The Athletic suggests Red Sox and Brewers might be a match for Burnes and/or Adames, who would move over to 2B. Both are in their final arbitration years.
https://theathletic.com/5049867/2023/11/10/red-sox-brewers-corbin-burnes-willy-adames/
https://theathletic.com/5049867/2023/11/10/red-sox-brewers-corbin-burnes-willy-adames/
Any trade for Soto requires moving on from Yoshida, either in the Soto deal or separate deal. No need for two LHH LF/DH on the roster. Yoshida would make sense for the Padres, settling LF for several years. BTV has Yoshida at 0 surplus value. But I think his past season represents his floor, so I see him having upside. Add 3 more WAR total over the next 4 years and his value matches Soto this year. Maybe throw in a lottery ticket prospect to sweeten the deal.
That said, I wouldn’t deal Yoshida until I know if he might be part of the lure of bringing Yamamoto to Boston.
Don't think this would be a help in keeping Yamamoto (or any other player) happy if we keep him until Yamamoto signs and then trade him. If you're suggesting we keep Yoshi just to make Yamamoto happy, that's not ideal either. I like Yoshi and don't have interest in trading him right now, but I'm open to ideas.
On Burnes:
With starting pitching seeming to be incredibly hard to find, Burnes will be expensive to acquire, even with only one more year of control.
Seems like they might want a controllable young pitcher like Houck, Crawford, or Whitlock, plus prospects.
Just throwing this out there: maybe Crawford, Perales (Sox Prospects #7) and Drohan (#13) for one year of Burnes? The MLB trade machine thing says that would be a slight overpay by Boston (because they value Crawford really highly-- 26.7 million in excess value, almost as much as Burnes (32) himself).
The Adames part:
The trade machine does NOT agree that the Brewers would move Adames (12.7) for Fernandez (0.5) or Rogers (1.3). It says they would scoff at moving him for BOTH of those guys.
You could get to a Minor Overpay by Mil. if you added Enmanuel Valdez, David Hamilton and Juan Mata to the deal, along with Fernandez and Rogers, which would clear some space on our 40-man roster, but I don't think the Brewers would want all those guys anyway and could probably get get players they liked better somewhere else.
Adames is a slick fielding SS with power, so they should expect a lot for him. One year of him at around $12 million really isn't a lot for most teams who would be interested in him, so they wouldn't need to discount him as a salary dump. I don't see him being worth what the Red Sox would have to pay to acquire him.
IF Yoshida being in Boston is part of what lures Yamamoto to Boston, then no, of course he can’t be traded after a YY signing.
If YY signs elsewhere, then I would definitely look for an opportunity to move MY. I like him, but I think he’s not a great fit for a team that needs better outfield defense, more hitting, and more flexibility to give DH at-bats to Devers and Casas.
Soto wouldn’t improve the LF defense, but he would improve the offense. Yes, acquiring Soto is a go for it now move. I think Breslow has to go for it now.
I’ve heard at least one semi-informed person talk about how you can’t do that if you want to ever sign another Japanese player. Yoshida shouldn’t be lightly cast aside, he’s not some nobody and it will be viewed as disrespectful. How true that is, or whether it’s a bit of a generalization, I wouldn’t know, but I’d be careful there.
If part of the reason Yamamoto picks the Sox is because of Masa and then they trade him it’ll be a horrible mistake politically. I can’t believe it’s even an option
You can’t ever trade a Japanese player? Til death do us part, huh? Or at least until the contract runs out?
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